Thank you for reading Star Wars: The Sith Orb: Part 2: Exterminators of Peace! I have been looking forward to this part of the story. It has more drama, more suspense, and more action than Part 1! In my opinion, Part 2 is going to be better than Part 1!
Before we continue this journey, there are a few things we need to get out of the way.
First of all, I do not own the Star Wars universe or anything in it (with the exception of my original characters, locations, and events.) All events in my story are non-canon, and should not be treated as part of the Star Wars universe. A large amount of credit goes to George Lucas for creating Star Wars. Also, special thanks to the people at Lucasfilm who have expanded the universe to create many characters and locations used in this story. Specifically, I would like to thank the writers who have made the Star Wars novels such compelling reads, and inspiring me to write my own stories!
Secondly, all of my stories are original works by me. While I have taken inspiration from other works of fiction, I alone came up with the ideas. As seems to be happening a lot lately, official Star Wars media contains events very similar to events in my stories. This is purely coincidental, at least on my part. I came up with these ideas before the official works were published. Please do not use any elements of my stories without my permission!
Third, this story is rated T for Teen. While Part 1 was relatively mild, Part 2 and subsequent parts will delve into darker, more adult themes. In addition to more graphic violence and brief sexual references, there will be a lot of descriptive torture and death, depressing and frightening situations, and even parallels to real-life tragedies such as the holocaust, 9/11, and school shootings. It is my intention to make readers more aware of these events by connecting with them emotionally. Still, if the subjects are too depressing for you to continue reading, I'm very sorry that you feel that way. But, I promise, the story will have a happy ending. You just need to brave it out.
This story contains references to my previous stories, so if you haven't read them, I recommend that you do, even though it's not required. You should at least have read Part 1: The Hunt for the Orb. For those of you who don't feel like reading Part 1, or have read it and don't remember most of it, here is a summary that contains all of the main plot points you need to know.
And now, without further ado...
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
Summary of Part 1: The Hunt for the Orb
Over 850 years prior to the birth of the New Jedi Order, Yoda, then a Jedi Knight, went to Ruusan to explore the site of the battle in which the Sith were destroyed by their own thought bomb. When Yoda found the cave where the bomb was detonated, he was surprised to find a glowing red orb. He could sense massive amounts of Dark Force energy radiating from it, and decided to bring it back to the Jedi Temple for study. There, he discovered that it was a Sith Orb, an ancient weapon that gave its wielder ultimate power, containing the Force essences of the hundreds of Jedi and Sith that had been killed by the thought bomb.
After pitting Yoda against his former Master, N'Kata Del Gormo, the orb was shown to the Jedi Council to decide its fate. While Yoda argued that it was dangerous and should have been destroyed, most of the Council did not agree. In the end a compromise was reached. It would be hidden in a secret location known only to two Jedi at a time. If it was ever needed, the Jedi could retrieve the orb and use it. Unfortunately, the orb's location was lost when both secret-keepers died during the Jedi Purge.
On the thirty-fifth anniversary of the New Jedi Order, led by Grand Master Luke Skywalker, Don Dain was inaugurated as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Alliance. The ceremony was interrupted, however, by three dark side assassins who defeated the Jedi present and caused a galaxy-wide panic. Dain, who had always mistrusted the Jedi, decided to watch them for the slightest hint of treachery. Meanwhile, the Jedi were still being blamed for the recent takeover by Sith Lord Darth Caedus, formerly Jedi Knight Jacen Solo, and feared that if they did not catch the assassins, they would completely fall out of favor with the Alliance.
On a deep-space survey mission, Admiral Mo'Ari, a loyal ally of the Jedi, discovered a man in the wreckage of a Separatist cruiser on the Dead Planet. The man was old, comatose, blind, and legless. He soon became a medical mystery and was sent to the Jedi Temple to be examined by Jedi Master Cilghal, who was equally dumbfounded by his condition. Master Ahsoka Tano, a survivor of the old Jedi Order, identified him as Demood Elppirc, a depressed Jedi Master who had been arrested for organizing a prison break during the Clone Wars. He had been presumed dead after a failed Separatist attempt to free him.
The Jedi temporarily revived Elppirc, only to find that he had gone insane. Amidst his mad ramblings, they learned that he was a secret-keeper and deciphered his riddle to discover the Sith Orb's location on Mustafar. While Ahsoka led a Jedi strike team to recover the orb, Luke met with one of the Sith assassins, who told him their identities. They were the survivors of a project by Emperor Palpatine to clone his Force-sensitive servants. Sinestro, their leader, was a clone of Count Dooku, Volatis was of Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke's recently deceased wife, and Masculous was a mutated clone of Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father. Sinestro went on to reveal that they had been trained by Darth Caedus, and were bent on finishing his work. He also warned Luke against trusting Elppirc or finding the orb.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka and her team, including Jedi Knights Zekk, Tesar Sebatyne, Lowbacca, and Tahiri Veila, went to the Island of Serpents on Mustafar and climbed into a volcano to find the orb. However, the orb was missing, and an Imperial flag lay in its place. At that moment, the volcano began to erupt, and the Jedi had to outrun the lava. During the escape, Zekk was severely burned trying to protect the team. The mission's failure affected Tahiri greatly. She had seen her lover, Anakin Solo, die in battle, been shaped into a monstrous Yuuzhan Vong, and briefly served as Caedus' apprentice. As a result, she felt like she did not belong anywhere. Only through the support of her closest friends did she find consolation.
After consulting the Imperial head of state, Jagged Fel, with whom Jaina Solo was having a secret affair, Luke learned that the Star Destroyer transporting the orb had crashed into the ocean on Kamino. He met with Chancellor Dain to requisition underwater exploration equipment, although he neglected to say exactly what they were looking for. Dain eventually agreed to the request, with his only condition being that his Jedi bodyguard, Master Sol Fadré, be sent on the mission. After the meeting, Dain was even more convinced that the Jedi were hiding something from him.
Jaina and Sol went to Kamino to explore the underwater wreckage of the Star Destroyer, but the orb was nowhere to be found. Unexpectedly, the entire ship tilted on the ocean floor, causing the room to collapse, damaging Jaina's scuba helmet and leaving her life in the hands of Sol. Using her Force abilities she managed to free herself from the wreck and was brought safely back aboard the submarines.
Returning to the temple, Jaina and Sol investigated the clue they found on Kamino. They determined that the orb had been salvaged by a group of scavengers under the employ of Jabba the Hutt. Luke was determined to go to Jabba's palace to find the orb, but the rest of the Jedi Council felt that they should give up the hunt. Angrily, Luke stormed out and went to Tatooine with his son, Ben. It became clear that Luke's mind was unsettled by recent events and the stress of being Grand Master, even though he refused to admit it.
Beneath Jabba's palace, Luke and Ben discovered that the orb was in the possession of the mysterious B'Omarr monks, who reacted violently to Luke's request to take it and locked them away to have their brains removed. The Jedi escaped, however, and recovered the orb from the vault. They soon found themselves surrounded by monks and tried to fight their way out. But then, the orb killed all of the monks with Force energy, apparently deciding to help the Jedi.
Back at the temple, Luke used the orb to cure Elppirc of his madness and completely heal him. His success backfired, however, when Elppirc revealed himself to be have been working with the Sith assassins, who infiltrated the temple to extract Elppirc and the orb, with the help of Sol Fadré. In the ensuing battle, Sol had a change of heart and tried to destroy the orb, but it defended itself by killing him. And then, using the orb, the Sith blew open the doors to the temple and escaped.
As the Jedi reflected on this unfortunate turn of events, Luke admitted that they were right about him allowing stress to cloud his judgment. He vowed that the Jedi would not rest until the assassins, Elppirc, and the orb were hunted down and destroyed.